Endless Depths
by Raven Starhawk
Summary: When a group of researchers receive a mysterious "package" they figure they finally got a break and begin work on examining remains of what seems to be a "alien creature".
1. Chapter 1

1

Dimensions: a topic fools bargained with for decades. As she poured over the details before her stamped in bold black ink her shoulders rounded. Even by candlelight they absorbed colors and blurred beneath her steady gaze. By now the lump in her throat hardened and as she tried to swallow it refused to budge. Leaning closer toward the crinkled parchment she took a deep breath and held it until her chest ached.

"L'inferno è un luogo vero e proprio consumata da diavoli," she read and stopped as a chill raked down her spine. A sour taste flooded her taste buds and as one by one letters fell into place her heart leapt into her throat. The invisible hand composing them was not finished yet.

The cabin shifted around her, groaned as though a presence resided within its decaying wood, and she bound the folds of her blanket tighter together. Draped over her shoulders it hung long with frayed ends that skimmed the floor.

-razors over wrists-

She lowered her head.

-cold steel pressed against flesh-

She closed her eyes.

-blood-

And she began to sob.

Anonymity descended as tangerine lamp posts highlighted fluffy snowflakes as they made their heavenly plunge.

I am the keeper of darkness. Fear the wizard that holds my breath, but not before life vanishes from thy wounded infinite. And so does the reaper play with life keys. It is a ritual imagination alone cannot understand.

Christi set the book aside. The words were fresh in her mind even when the front door opened and inward stepped her boyfriend of two years. His smile and sparkling eyes did nothing to change the gloom that weighed on her shoulders.

He lay his baggage on the floor, shrugged out of his jacket and approached. Next to her on the couch he sat and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

"Are you still thinking of heading up there," he asked, though he already knew the answer.

Christi nodded and sighed. Running a hand through her hair she licked her lips and again looked over at the book. "There are answers that we need if we ever plan on shutting that old man up."

"But don't you think it might be a little dangerous," he asked and patted her knee. "I mean, if you believe the rumors…"

"I am not thinking about that." She tilted her face to regard the ceiling. Its rough stucco failed to maintain her interest and once more she shifted to the torn leather bound book and its musty pages. "I think if we can understand what is written here we might have a good chance."

"Christi," he began slowly. "I know you and the others think this is going to be a piece of cake, but just think about it for a moment."

"Jake, I have thought and thought about it. Either we go and find some sort of evidence…"

"Of what," he challenged. "Of Ancients? Of creatures that are immune to death and disease and couldn't give a rat's ass about humans? How can that benefit us?"

"Because we need the money, Jake," she snapped.

"But if you are having nightmares don't you think you should leave well enough alone?"

She rubbed her eyebrows and closed her eyes. A groan escaped her tightly sealed lips. She sat back, her shoulders rounded as she stared aimlessly about the room. With her arms folded across her chest she answered, "And lose everything we have worked for? We can't pay bills. We can't buy food. How are we supposed to live, Jake?"

After a moment of silence, which the tick tock of the clock counted a few seconds, he also lay back and rested his head on the fluffy bulge of the headrest. He blew out a long breath and said, "If we do this you have to promise me that the first time something weird happens we just get out."

"I can already pretty much guarantee something weird will happen, Jake. Why else to think the tours in the place stopped? Why else do you think they have the damn doors nailed shut? The place is…"

"Dangerous," Jake finished with a note of dread in his voice. "I know and nothing I say is going to change your mind."

She shook her head.

2

It sat upon a hill like a dark idol. High stone walls pitted and overgrown with vines and moss wasn't even to ward off the curious. Many came for a glimpse into its arched windows. Some even dared to attempt to cross its threshold. Various reasons came into play. As stories of hidden treasure swept across the land greed mapped out a route to its location. Of course that wasn't to say some defied riches and simply were intrigued by the legend and mystery it was rumored to be.

Pulling into its long and unpaved drive Christi gasped. Her hair brushed over her slim shoulders a shimmering wave of blonde as her brown eyes squinted against the glare. So intently was she staring that when a set of fingers gently squeezed her shoulder she jumped.

"It hasn't change a bit," Jake said as he unfastened his safety belt. "I still think this is a horrible idea."

Christi forced a smile. "That sounds so cliché." She turned away, unable to keep her lips turned up and she fought against her own belt. Opening the door she wasted no time hopping out and taking a deep breath. The air rushing her lungs was scented but with what she could not pinpoint. She coughed and started for the trunk. With keys in hand she slid the jagged metal into its lock and listened to the tumblers as her attention again dwelled toward the towering beast.

"The others said they had to make a stop at the gas station down the road," Jake explained as he clicked his cell phone off and shoved it into his pants pocket.

"Well they have most of the equipment. So if they want us to make any ground before sundown they better hurry up," she said.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she lied smoothly and assured him with another fake smile. "I think things are about to change for the better. This is our ticket. If we can get just one shred of evidence then the world as we know it will change forever."

"And what if there is no evidence to be had? What will you do then?"

She stopped sorting through an assortment of flashlights, small digital cameras in cushioned black cases and sound recorders to look up at him and reply, "There will be evidence."

"But you have to look at this realistically, Christi. What if there is no proof to be had? Just for a second consider that."

She paused a moment longer. This time her stare stayed on the cases as she opened then closed them. "I don't know. I really don't know. I guess we will be living in a cardboard box and holding up signs reading 'will work for food'."

"I am not joking," he exclaimed.

In a grim tone she said quickly, "Neither am I, Jake."

3

In night's eye an inky solution emerged from shadow's end. Nothing could ever prepare the world for end. Though it was always on speculation's time yesterday failed to prove theories and enforced realization that knowledge is out of reach.

This was where the dead wander in wait for judgment. So many roam and in constant wait they exercise their demons. Yes, even the dead have demons. They tend to hold true to ignorance and what greater thing is there than ignorance?

Sickness slithered down the wall. Its thick glops shimmered and swayed under a steady pulse of moonlight. One foot after another the living move inward. With them are foreign devices that hum, beep and throw shallow lights.

They swerved around corridors as though every noise meant something life changing was in progress. Their instruments seemed to nearly pull them along. Whatever they were hoping to find? Treasures are merely what the mind makes them out to be. Material objects hold great power over these thoughts.

Christi jerked. Her eyes widened. As he jaw dropped she leaned closer to a lacerated wall. Its wide wounds glistened as though they were wet. Camera in one hand and a penlight in the other she moved from one to the next.

She stumbled as her foot struggled with loose rocks. Without breaking her gaze she gasped and steadied herself. Her nose wrinkled up. It came in shallow waves, but was not repugnant enough to really drive her back though a smell such as it might have churned her stomach on a different day.

"What could have made these marks," Jake asked.

Christi shook her head. "I don't know."

Chuck chuckled. His bushy carrot beard covered most of his large chops. He stooped over, his heavy midsection jiggling like Jello, and he said, "Maybe it was my king snake."

Christi rolled her eyes. Everything with him had to do with his nether region. Though she couldn't be sure she would bet he had nothing interesting below the waist.

"Give it up," Jake barked.

4

Diamonds descended upon the formless void. From their sparkle radiated light. It was a discovery very little found sweet. For these fragile strands were responsible for so much while accomplishing so little. Now as they spun a colorless web agony swept across the landscape. Maybe once they could have been something more, something better, but destiny closed off all hope.

Timeless tragedy counted from eternity and then something curved the line and slowly from pain's depths emerged darkness. There can never be anything less than misery when hazard breathes misfortune and exhales rage.

Now with these few comes chance to unleash it all. Let Hell begin.


	2. Chapter 2

1

As she stared into the mirror at her reflection she frowned. There was no shame in getting old, she told herself while admiring the lines under her tired eyes. She hung her head. The body she once knew was turning on her. Aches in her joints, fine lines and hot flashes…they were all so bothersome but as she looked up at the vanity light she figured no one could escape the natural law. It was bound to happen sooner or later. The only people able to stay forever young were Hollywood types and musicians. They shelled out a pretty penny for the old slice and dice treatments.

She watched an insect circle around the gleaming hot bulb. Its tiny wings fluttered a million miles a minute it seemed. Had it been her, it would have collapsed from exhaustion. Still a fragile little thing such as probably never got tired. A smile touched her lips. How pathetic was it to envy an insect, she thought and resumed her facial washing.

To think next week was her birthday. Her frown returned. Another year had come and gone. They just keep piling up until one day you have sagging boobs and a dry crotch. She wondered how it worked for men. Did their boobs also sag with age? Did their male parts shrivel up? Did they lose their ability to obtain an erection?

She watched as suds spiraled down the drain. She pulled a towel from a silver rack and patted her face dry. It would be easy if she weren't afraid. It would be easy to pretend as though she were as curious about sex as most girls her age, but the fact was she wasn't like most girls. In fact she hardly considered herself…human.

"Christi," Jake called from the hallway. "Are you all right?"

She paused before turning toward him as he opened the door slowly.

"I just got sick a little," she lied.

He grimaced. "Did you see anything?"

She shook her head.

"Then you might want to come back out here. Charles says a weird package showed up addressed to us."

2

Sitting before the approach of midnight she closed her eyes. Though the first wave of stars had begun to peek out from the veil of darkness hours ago she only now acknowledged them as her gaze returned to them. There was no sense in seeing beyond the place where they hung suspended. Mankind had not yet earned that right. She doubted they ever would but as she continued to engulf herself in their rich throbbing glow her mind spun whispers of hope.

There is no god, she figured, at least not the one written about in books. There is no heaven in the sky and no hell deep within the ground. The invention of deities likely generated from fear. Fear was a driving force in human culture after all. It manifested in so many ways and provoked much violence especially just as society was "evolving".

She rested her chin against the backside of her hand. Her knuckled turned white as her fingers curled into her palm. Born of flesh humans become dust. It was as simple as that. She bit her lip. Though the taste of blood was enough to make her tongue lap at the wound she did not cease the occasional bite of cheek flesh.

Dark wonder clouded a dark mind, she reminded herself.

"What do you mean," she asked him as they retreated down a flight of stairs. "No one knows we are here."

"Well someone does," he answered.

_3_

_Sitting in a moonlight's ray a woman tilted her head toward the sky. Stars blazed as jewels randomly embedded in a navy blue blanket. There was not a speck of cloud to be seen for miles around. Still as she searched inward there was no clarity. As of late she believed herself to be just a normal woman in a normal world surrounded by bored events that foreclosed on her inspiration at every turn._

_There was nothing to do. This sad fact weighed on her shoulders like a ton of bricks and still as she lay back on the cool grass she thought that maybe hope was to be had. There had to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Listening to crickets chirp she closed her eyes. It didn't matter. He would never let her go anyway._

_A cool breeze raked over her. Her eyes sprang open. A tall shadow cast out the soft gleam washing over her as it loomed closer. She bolted upright and held a fist between her breasts as her heart skipped a beat._

_"There you are," he growled._

_She tilted her head up to see the stars. Her lips pressed together as ache shivered across her bad. She still felt his hands on her. Their demanding grabs and pulls bruised more than just her. Though she could not see them she knew the marks were there. His blue eyes had been wide cold marbles when she looked into them. She had wanted to forsake them, look away but with his ape like paws cupping her face she was forced to stare into a sweating face that grinned whenever she cried out._

_Beneath him she was trapped. His two hundred and seventy pounds pinned her against the mattress and all she could do was lay there. Though she struggled, though she squirmed to free herself, it only seemed to heighten his hunger, propel his savage desire and ultimately rape her of thought and freedom. She wondered if it would ever end. Then his tongue darted into her ear. It sent her into a red stare at the ceiling. A frown painted her lips into a ugly bow. It was then she knew what had to be done._

_Murder seemed like a foreign affair. She never before entertained such thoughts, found them wicked and challenged with awkward circumstance. Still she knew hating him would never end the torment. She needed to act and act now._

_Yes, the man Charles did this to her. He must be the first._


	3. Chapter 3

1

Behind his eyes embers blazed. His fingers curled around the door frame as he clenched his teeth. You wouldn't know it by looking at him, but he resented being dubbed as an angry person. In all his thirty-seven years he dreamed of reuniting with his long lost sister whose mother snatched her away like a thief in the night.

Slowly he entered the room where photographs of her plastered every section of wall. Some were downloaded off the internet while others were of younger days when they were still together. She was beautiful. There was no denying that. To think men had their eyes on her made his stomach boil. His vision narrowed. No one can have her. There wasn't a decent man worthy enough of her grace and affections.

His lips burned as her name once again rolled off his tongue. Was it abnormal to want to know everything about her? Was it shameful to demand answers to questions asked about her? She was his sister after all and the importance of family was never more important. Sure the other two sisters finally contacted him. That was all fine and dandy but they paled in comparison to the raven haired beauty whose eyes sparkled like cosmic jewels.

Charles exhaled sharply. He deposited his weight in a chair. It legs groaned in protest. He slouched, elbows on his knees and face buried in his palms. He had to talk to her. He had to hear her voice, smell her sweet perfume and touch her satin skin. After all he was her brother.

2

_Splintered wood under my feet and my head tilted to bask in the moonlight, I wrap my arms about my ribs as urges again seize me.  
><em> 

_Hunger. Thirst. Love.  
><em> 

_These burrow within my four chambered agony. It beats like a bass drum. Within my ears I listen to my life's essence while it thunders with failure. Upon the first step forward I cringe. My toes curl. I realize I can go no further. Contained in a box I might sleep forever if only forever wasn't so far away. I am divided by land and sea and all because he threw me away._

_Beside a hollow husk resides grief's daughter. Entrance into her womb allows great misfortune. No one can avoid its clutches. Devils give birth here and no one ever survives._

_Where red rivers glide through tight channels and beneath a vacant sky, fingers stretch and curl in moist earth as night sings its end. Though the battle was almost won there appears to be only losers. Humanity breathes one last breath._

_From the untold boundaries resting along insanity's way I drifted against an undead army. Their putrid decay swelled with every wind gust. Gazing down at the blade piercing my chest I have choice but to join them on this quest for vengeance. After all there is nothing better than to enlist your own brand of justice when those who usually carry it out deem it only right for those higher on the food chain. It wasn't a poor man's world. It never was and never will be._

_In the horizon where blood boiled against an orange streak I spied our opponents. They march to the beat of their superiority. Pulling the gore covered sword from my flesh I raised it high in the air as it dripped fluid and meaty bits. I fight for man no more. _

_Letting out a shrilling cry we charged into battle one final time to reclaim the rights over our souls._

_Harvested soul split in two as a blinded nation rises to fall. Whispers cease a reckless heart forged by bitter envy upon a jealous dream. From my bowels I submit unto you truth as it is meant to be heard.  
>But covered ears refuse to listen. Such is the way of people who live in clouds. Ask not the questions of the ordinary for they will writhe beneath your skin like maggots. And spoil your soul assuming you have a soul to take.<br>_

_In the woods, deep and dark, roots are broken. Kindred souls stalk resolve. Numb fingers splay over granite. Secrets flow like red wine. Seeds burrow within worms. Stolen thoughts sail an angry sea. Tempted woes sing sickness. Out dated excuses plaster memories. Ether's swan song smokes from my lungs. Entities revoke rules of change._

_Weepers relinquish celestial grief. Shrines offer subterranean passage into gloom. The necropolis harvests much respect. Wine of the mortal empiricism bathes headstones. Once from the chalice of passing one must drink. At its tactile sense, the unnatural features of humanity dissolve. Vehement variation confuses healers. Vandals of human law veer into hollow avenues. And as ritual turns a new corner, virtue settles into its grave. No longer is anything sacred.  
><em>

_Struggled years lie wasted alongside the road. Dark eyes stare disbelief. Eras served in hollows of discord haunt me. Rivers flow like old wine. In their fragrance I buckle and collapse. The woman in the mirror is no longer me. Life it seems to be a killing machine. Growing bleakness, crashing dawn, what made me whole is gone. Twisted corridors of searing flesh salute me. See where your lies have led me?_

_Fermented limpidness shimmers in consecrated devotion. Rotted entreaty spoils on tongues. Often harmony stales in the devil's wake. Mentioned serenity wrestles genuine purpose. Host her vigor with prudence. Eradicate need to contend. Reason to belong promotes wrongs. She pronounces cryptic meanings. Isn't human instability sufficient?_

_Suffer unto bliss's bitter shroud with listless reason as eyes scour another lonely night and tragedy signs another life away. Power seized by haggard lumps of flesh cease dreams and innocence in one swoop while devil's pawns swarm the beasts of today with sorrow for tomorrow. And justice buries its head in the sand._

_Night crawls on a scaled belly through glinting glass broken hours before. From her yawning wound, legs splayed, pours heartache with meaty swirls. A world fades under a flickering bulb as one more dream expires on a wingless angel. Death never seemed so enticing._


	4. Chapter 4

Christi shivered as Charles plunged the crowbar into the massive crate. She watched as blackened nails were separated from wood and jumped back as one side toppled over.

Jake squeezed her shoulders and whispered in her ear, "What are you afraid of?"

A mammoth block of ice slid out. It's perfectly squared corners glinted as it came to rest under the beam of Kayla's flashlight.

"How in the fuck is that possible," Jodon spat as he moved his small framed closer. "Ice that hasn't thawed?"

"Well the temperature is low enough," Jake retorted. "This place is just one icy tomb."

"I am talking about during day…"

"Enough," Christi said. "It doesn't matter. Certainly someone knew we'd be here. Who outside of this group knows about our project here?"

"Clearly someone has been yapping," Brenda seethed as she folded her arms across her chest.

"It looks like something is inside it," Kayla said as she leaned closer.

Christi took a deep breath. Indeed it did appear to be so. She followed the thin black lines locked under freezing inches and wrapped her arms around herself to suppress a chill.

"I don't like this," she said under her breath.

Charles burst into laughter. "I say we crack this open."

Christi rounded on him at once. "Don't you dare," she hissed. "We have no idea what this is, where it came from or who sent it."

"Who gives a shit," Charles shot back, his cheeks reddening. "You can't seem to realize that we need something amazing to forever secure our evidence that we are not alone."

He stared down at her, moving closer and closer as she backed away. His eyes were wide, wild and dangerous as he scratched his red unkempt beard. With his back now to the ice block he raised his chubby middle digit and laughed.

"It's no wonder your sister doesn't want anything to do with you," Jake spat as he guided Christi with him toward a corner.

"Fuck you," Charles bellowed.

Ice fragments showered them. Each frosty bit was speckled crimson as a spear like tentacle impaled Charles' chest and yanked him backward. Bones crunched, flesh tore with wet pops and all the team could do was watch in horror as the thing continued to mutilate him.

"Charles," Kayla screamed and dropped her flashlight as she covered her mouth.

"Run," Jake screamed as he pulled a paralyzed Christi with him into a corridor.

_Run? There is no place to run. Trying to escape fate is like trying to deny day its sun. Hide if you want, hide if you might, but it will change nothing in the darkness of night._

"No," Brenda cried as she collapsed near a flight of stone stairs. "This can't be happening!"

Kayla, Jodon and Judan whipped past her after Christi and Jake as they rounded a sharp corner.

_One by one your flesh will be its flesh. There is no denying, no trying…_

Into a room they darted and slammed the door. Securing the lock Jake gasped for air.

"That puny ass lock isn't going to keep that thing out," Christi sobbed.


	5. Chapter 5

_Why cannot organisms co-exist peacefully? Trouble brewed a terrible poison for breeds less fortunate. It truly wouldn't matter in the end though. Damnation is not prejudice. I feel as though nothing matters because from the dark depths of my mind truth refuses to part. Something else attacking these days reports snakes masking reality with magic._

_Now he is here. _

_False hope. False teachings. We are conditioned to believe we are in control of our lives and deaths, that death is not the end but only the beginning, and as we embrace denial we regress. Then again…_

_Humans are arrogant creatures. We assume to know or not know certain happenings with gross beliefs that divide us and ultimately cloak our ignorance with assuring lies. Perhaps our not knowing is a blessing but of course it can very well be our downfall since it is in our nature to comfort our oddities and enforce religious beliefs even though they clash with others and make deathly enemies in the process. _

_Perhaps no mortal man has the answers. After all mortal man is limited in his thought and abilities. _

_These thoughts are poisoned. As a human I cannot help but long for something to explain the unexplained. I fashion myself a grand illusion, but when the smoke clears all I am left with is the seeds of denial and perhaps hope. I might as well plant them and see what sprouts through the soil of possibility. Such would make for an open avenue I might explore heavily. Still I deposit myself here in this hard wood chair, listen to life and my own fingers crack as my knuckles press against my chin._

_Fabrication is man's greatest invention. It doesn't stand alone. Sorrowful are these words as I allow them entry into an already hollow landmark. Though one direction has many hands to guide me through its twist and turns I have to wonder if it leads anywhere. Suppose there is no infinite time and space. Suppose there is nothing beyond this physical shell. What is the point to life if all we do is die?_

_I listen to the side of the atheist. I listen to the side of the Christian. Then there are the other various religions with their bibles and doctrines. Not all of them can be right. But then does that mean any of them are wrong? _

_In my human dilemma I am again taken by the fact I am not meant to understand, perhaps can't understand. After all I am human and am limited to this mortal coil. Is it so hard to fathom dimensions beyond our own?_

_Upon April's breast nestles desperation. Emotions hinder human progress. I cannot measure this with instruments forged by man. In all honesty and perhaps this is my arrogance, as humans are an arrogant animal, I submerge myself in the same denial as many before me; build a foundation based on paranoia and the need to understand the universe. _

_Science pushes the notion that "god" is a figment of human imagination, a subject of which we hold onto in order to caress control over future events, and so why is it so hard for these so called "wise men" to admit they cannot for certain explain the universe, if it has a parent or creator or if we are part of a natural order to the likes that no mortal intelligence can salvage as are conscious is severely stunted. _

_I confuse myself, but like many others I want to know. I want to learn. But perhaps there is no comfort in knowing. Because maybe the truth is devastating. _

_He doesn't need me._

_To my left the bag of Old Dutch Ripples potato chips beckoned me. __A bunch of crunch in every munch__ printed on its lower side somehow peaked my interest though I still hesitated. _

_Better not eat a single chip. Aren't you fat enough? No one loves a fat girl._

_I lowered my head. From the hallway voices floated though footsteps had yet to commence. Although this room was my haven it was also my cell. Here in the hours of darkness memories deposited themselves in the already soiled conscious state I have come to loathe. Images bored into my mind like a hot brand while pained faces pressed out from the plaster and fixed upon my ears hellbound cries._

_He doesn't love me and he never will._

_But only in night's stamp across the land. And only for a matter of hours do my eyes truly see that chaos has no father and time is a invention of mankind. Religion is a fairytale twisted and warped to fit fear and need. Yet in my human insecurity I clutch to hope._

_Howling wind rushed me back to the present and I tilted my face upward. Harsh glare instantly obscured my vision and I again resumed my spiral toward self-destruction. _

_Nimbus appendages extended and enveloped me. Instantly sensation awakened, coursed through endless channels of sight, sound and physical necessity. However a blockade emerged from reality's corner._

_But the nimbus is beautiful and soft. Youth returns with the rush of excitement. If only I wasn't restrained to mortal obligation… But my heart won't lie._

_From agony's depths leapt shadows. Formless pockets bleed across my cosmos and again thoughts submerged in a ceaseless sea of pain and misery. Tragedy aged me and now as I suited myself with the fashion of truth I must admit when I am mortal._

_Could I just for a while pretend as though illness doesn't exist? Summoned courage eventually lay expired upon limitation's breast. Still I lingered at the corner of doubt and disbelief. _

_Helpless and after all human, I turned my back to the light. To step into its beam would forever haunt me as I much rather stay hidden from love, life and reality._

"_God…"_

_Is there really a God?_

_I followed the broken cobblestone path. One foot in front of the other, I ambled with my head bowed. I wish not to see the obstruction ahead. It will stop me regardless and this realized truth slowed me in my pace. _

_Where is my nimbus cloud to carry me away?_

_Spewed forth past blistered lips words unraveled a steady string of cursing as glinting eyes closed. She lowered the dagger, paused and took a deep breath. Sharp pain choked the air from her lungs as rushing steel tore through her rib cage. Her legs buckled and she collapsed onto a stone slab. Its gaping fissures drank the steady crimson flow pumping from around the blade as it inched deeper and deeper still._

_Awaken, Bitter Fate, and sleep with your master. For the time has come to put aside humanity and the poison it harvested. The approach of the waning moon settles all doubt, but what is the moon? A silly dust ball scarred and dying, yet mortals believe in its power._

"_Die, Raven," hissed the shadows. "Never again breathe the very insult of your salvation."_

_A world such as this is not worth remaining in. I figured this out when man's seed soured innocence womb. Nothing more is to become of me. I am forgotten, just another speck of sand. I listen no more for what I am is what I never wanted to be. I have failed not only myself but my dream. My heart betrayed every fiber of my resolve. _

_Lonely girl, why do you still pine for him? What was so special about him? He broke your heart, used you like a whore and proved to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. So then I ask again why still hold onto the impossible? Why still cling to a dream that will never be fulfilled?_

_There are moments I look at myself and truly hate what I see. Never again will I be the person who pursues love. Never again will I fall victim to the predators. And there are a lot of them out there, especially on the internet. I know it is easy to attach emotion to a good looking face, but…looks aren't everything. That may be an outdated term but it is still very true._

_I walk this narrow road. In the distance I see a few turns that branch off into more twists. I need to figure out which path to take and as I approach I slow. Can I really take the path on the right and do my best not to look back? Or should I subject my heart to further torture and agony by taking the left path back to…him? He won't accept me, not really anyway, but I still linger on hope's avenue. _

_Straight ahead darkness cracks a mighty whip. I think that as long as I embrace the fact that life is pain and filled with people eager to enslave you to such a pain…I might be able to develop a thicker skin._

_And still I sit. Which path should I take? I don't want to leave him behind though he was the one who abandoned me when I needed him the most. I trusted him with sensitive information and other sordid details I rather omit. Now he has a part of me that I can't retrieve. Now I know better than to latch onto a stranger for comfort. _

_Still…I am very much alone. I need a friend, but where are they in this perpetual nightmare of heartache? I just can't see myself heading anywhere. It was merely a flash in time and yet it caused so much grief. And there is no escaping the fact he used me. He played me for a fool, took the strings to my heart and…severed them. Now I am detached from everything and everyone._

_I just have to retrain my brain and my heart. I have to make it possible to love again and to accept that there will always be people out there who use and abuse others. As crazy as it might sound they eventually gets what coming to them and in the end they will be held accountable for their actions. I am certain. I just wish I wasn't so caring because caring has gotten me into a load of trouble and cost me my happiness._

_Pleading ignorance is a subject that issues humanity divine hell. Staring at my fingers on the keyboard I sink deeper into my chair. The hard wood back presses against my ribs. Though pain sings down to the bone I remain slouched, shoulders hunched. _

_Is there a purpose for all this madness? It hibernates within every specter that dwells in the very midst of physical being. I cannot withstand the violation of theory. _

_Life and death are day and night. I walk in life but only so I avoid death's avenue, but eventually it will swallow me in its dark passage as no one can elude it forever._

_Liberate disbelief with belief and perhaps my walls will crumble. Fear attaches to fiction. The fiction spinners create fantasy, embroider lies with far-fetched realms where souls exist and move on._

_Dejection enchains my thoughts. Call me and save me from the dark. There's nothing inside but a fiery demon spent on destruction of my mortality. To live or die no longer is a haunted house I am trapped in. _

_Alone and lonely…lonely and alone…whispers caress my ear with immortal fabrications. Fresh routines slices through meat and scrapes bone and there no one here to stop it. My hand wants another to hold… I have been isolated my whole existence by defeat and…these thoughts that so painfully restrain me._

_Pretty little cuts…how you fail to congeal. _

_Love…the very work demands thoughts and stirs memories. It is not a long word yet it is powerful; a very powerful word that infuses so much more that letters and syllables. I sit here as I usually do and it is like a scorpion's sting._

_As any normal mortal wandering this plane for a short period of time I seek such a thing from another. Problems arise though faster than water in a clogged toilet. Normally in my case the recipient of this emotion does not return it. In fact it usually is made into a joke at my expense._

_But what do you do when you love someone so hard and he doesn't even care to you as a person? How can it not hurt to know he goes out of his way to ignore you? I don't want to go through it again._

_He…I think he treats me like a plague. Perhaps I am. Maybe that is the reason why no one wants to entertain my little heart's desire. I use to think it was because I was ugly. I use to think it was because I was fat. And this did not generate from my own warped self-image. This came from guys. I wasn't even close to what any of them wanted and maybe that is still the case. Maybe all I am is…a whore to them. _

_I just want love like everyone else. I want to have someone hold me and make me feel wanted. I want someone to talk to and have fun with. But that someone will never be._

_This hole I was thrown into continues to deprive me of the light I so desperately seek. Faces circle above. Their bleach complexions split apart; became yawning divides revealing rows of serrated teeth. _

_Hope, please find me again._

_Intestines dripping gore race across a muddy sky, splintering like lightning bolts as laughter fills the darkness. It is a sound bleeding into growls; an unseen beast that rules this hell._

_I'll keep slipping farther…_

_Children of the damned sing a melancholy chorus of bitterness and lies. So then where is the truth?_

_Truth is buried along with happiness._

_"What's your name?"_

_"Mary."_

_My shoulders rounded. Creeping from my shoulder up into my neck, tension settled into my muscles. If I wrote a novel of pain it would never be finished._

_Mortals sponsor another kind of evil. Have you learned nothing from this? Pardon ignorance as an excuse. It does nothing to polish your flaws._

_Soil and pebbles embedded under my fingernails as I clawed at the walls. Wet earth filled my nostrils as it tumbled down around me. It was then I realized this was my grave._

_"But I am not dead," __I screamed._

_Death isn't always a physical occurrence. Some people are dead on the inside yet their bodies are fully functional._

_Dead inside. Am I dead inside?_

_From what evil do I spawn from?_

_I loved you. I really did. In such a short amount of time you became someone special. I knew the risks. I wanted to take them, but now I realize it was all for nothing. You proved to me that I was nothing in your life. I never mattered._

_Does anyone matter?_

_I find the devil in my thoughts. He locks doors and boards up windows. I walk dark halls. Occasionally a turn leads me to another stretch but it is all the same. I am alone, but then again I am not. He is always either behind or ahead of me with large egg shaped eyes and a bleeding red tongue._

_I try to tell myself that if I continue on I might find a way back to you, but…then he tells me truth I don't want to hear and the structure under my feet changes. No longer am I treading on wood or butchered carpet. _

_How could you abandon me in this place? How could you leave me to suffer like this? Have you ever treated someone this way before? _

_My heart is in agony from all this pain. I wanted to be there for you. I wanted to mean something to you, but I was fooling myself._

_Hell's breath fans my face and through a veil of stinging tears I watch as the devil gestures my way. On a soggy muscle terrain I approach. _

_This is the end. _

_Lone in passion, lone in love, she picked up her gun and stared into the cold barrel. It was as though she was staring into a black eye that promised her something great at the expense of death. She sat a solitary figure against a backdrop of black. It might as well have been a symbol for her whole life. Isolated in this shell she saw no escape from the growing emptiness. She was forever destined to be alone. Hope abandoned her. It alienated her from ever again exploring the possibilities of a fresh start. As she slid the steel into her mouth she swiveled in her chair. She always cared for the view of the stars and this night would be her last._

_She thought it over a moment then reached for a pen in a cup that had once been a neighbor of various other articles and magazines. In her haste her hand brushed the plastic rim and multicolored writing utensils scattered. As she wrote she felt the power surge through her. As before she anticipated whatever might controlled the diary would once more bring to life whatever she desired as long as it was filled with hateful ambition. Then as she lay her pen aside her freshly scribbled words rearranged themselves to form another entry from the Hell Dweller._

_As her features resumed normal functions she straightened. There was little to do but assume what had transpired was nothing more than a daydream. Her shadow blotted out the moon and for a moment she sat in murky depths with only the shimmer of green screen cast across her face._

_Amongst a backdrop of decay walls bent and projected bulging cracks where blood oozed. _

_Nothing made sense anymore. She was broken. This she could no longer deny. She clamped her eyes shut. She grimaced. The craft of chaos weaved about her. It rushed heat to her face and she felt her ears become hot. Her mind spun around a whirlwind of white blooming behind her lids. It sparked and unrolled before her a vision of nothingness. She wished for screams to cease and madness to retreat; for what powers she bestowed without caution to dwindle._

_A hard knock thrust her attention toward the door as her eyes flew open. Her feet dropped to the floor as her legs straightened. From her chair she rose slowly._

_Dawn threatens to bring such misery. In what way can this end? Hatred casts such ugly looks and as I absorb them I fill myself becoming a formless void. Across sun bleached dunes I trek. The hot sand burrows deep within yawning wounds my blade created. The tears they cry are memories stamped in heartache. _

_Though they are divided by language the meaning is the same and as I collapse on bloody knees I tilt my face skyward and scream. The blistering sun reddens my skin. Soon pus pockets erupt and disperse yellow liquid. As I char, blacken and combust into flames, my cries pierce the day, but no one cares. No one hears._

_And I come to this conclusion: if I don't write about something other than horror, angst, pain and darkness…I might just end up fucking killing myself._

_And so here it is. I am unsure how to proceed in these moments of despair, but I know I must press on regardless of what troll might be waiting for me around the corner. Like a desperate demon she lurks in my shadow. Her words are venom that pulsates ignornace and yet she doesn't sense that her immaturity is anything but amusing. _

_She is nothing more than a worthless sack of worthless shit. And she can take her wretched opinions and hate and shove it so far up her ass she tastes it. Honestly why waste your time on me? Why does she feel she must go out of her way to tarnish my art? I have done nothing to this bully. Yet she attaches herself to me like a low life disease. And truly the term "low life" can easily sum her up. _

_No matter what people say about me I will always be thankful for the friends I have made. Words may hurt and leave wounds, but I refuse to allow hate or ignorance to disrupt my life and attitude toward them. In a nutshell I believe fighting hate with love and respect is the best option._

_And still...I am the seed in darkness's mouth. I turn to writing for a creative outlet. And in the realm of imagination I detail the world I create carefully to suit these emotions._

_I'd hate to think…that whatever I may become might someday be…a lesser shadow of humanity. If a perfect balance exists I fail to see how it plays a part in everyday life. So many views exist in todays so called "modern" times. Some of them are perhaps…deviant. It all boils down to opinion and the belief of rights. _

_What seems rather primal in my warped and deranged mind is that one manifests great hatred for another based on looks or choice of art, style, music, etc. That said person does not take a look outside the box and consider that just because they have nothing to share or relate to that deems him/her the right to stalk, harass and demean the other._

_My point is we all have differences. We also may share some things in common. But why then hate on a person if you cannot find any reason to visit their art or any given profile without having a shit attack? _

_If I am exploring the cyber world and stumble upon a artist of whatever genre or taste and I fail to see his/her vision I am not going to spend a second longer browsing his/her story, poem, art, or whatever. I will move on. I will find one who I can identify with or simply work on my own projects. _

_Tolerance is key though. _


	6. Chapter 6

_I was ready to die when life decided to give me another chance. _

Christi sank to her knees. Gasping hard she crawled into a corner embraced by shadows. Her heart hammered in her ears as she stared at the door. It was flimsy wood and flimsy wood would keep that thing at bay.

Her hands clenched her ankles. Sharp and painful screams rose from another room. Difficult to pinpoint who it was she quickly surveyed her surroundings. Jake collapsed next to her. Sweat glistened across his face.

_See the world through my eyes. It is not that harsh of a reality. Why do you continue to ignore the truth? Does it truly elude you?_

_Bound to flesh you are unaware of spiritual desires. I have crossed eons without succumbing to carnal splendors. Maybe it is better to remain a spirit. If I happen to drink sorrow I surely would be one of you. And I can't allow that. I am but a cosmos child ready to entertain dark fantasies._

Christi shook her head. The voice pounded in her head like a bass drum.

_Murder is nothing special, but it provides one with power. To take a life is a great thing; a terrible thing, but great._ _Harvest no ill will. It holds down so many other qualities._

"Shut up," she whispered.

Jake turned to her, snaked an arm around her shoulders and breathed, "The screaming has stopped."

_But it will never stop, Christi._

"What do we do now?"

Christi looked up to see Judan standing over her. She had a distained look burning in her hooded eyes.

"This is your fault," Judan continued hotly.

Christi shot up. "My fault," she exclaimed, her limbs shaking fiercely. "How is it my fault?"

"You wanted to come here," she snarled.

Standing Jake countered, "No one twisted your arm to come, Judan!"

Judan folded her thick arms across her chest and scoffed as she rolled her eyes. Turning she said, "You two are so deluded."

"This is not the time to bicker," Kayla said.

"Who is left," Jessie asked as he moved closer.

"The screaming must have been Brenda," Judan snorted.

"I thought she was right behind us," Christi said, looking around frantically for anyone other than those in clear view.

"Deb, Jodon…" Jake whispered as he too examined the far end of the room for any signs of life.

"They're dead," Judan hissed. "And you know why?" She whirled around on her heels to face Christi. "Because of you and your need for this and that!"

"Enough," Jake barked and was about to stomp back toward them when brick and wood caved in from above.

Thick glistening tentacles swiped at Christi as she leapt back out of its reach. The mass they belonged to opened chomping jaws in its torso; jagged bone fragments that were pearl white and dripping thick yellow slime. For a moment they were all she could look at, but then a scream tore her attention away and to a new horror.

A spear like appendage impaled Kayla's face. Blood splatter shot needle thin speckles across gray brick and cement as it yanked her back and toward the yawning mouth.

_Oh god_, Christi thought. _The thing is going to eat her!_

But to her disbelief Kayla's flesh fused together with its body! Meat married meat, writhed and contoured until there was no Kayla left.

"Take her," Judan bellowed, pointing a finger in Christi's direction as the thing shifted toward her.

"No," came a stern reply.

The thing recoiled, shrieked and leapt back up through the hole which it came from.

The child ambled forward. Her maroon hair was tied back with a polka dot ribbon except for a set of bangs that hung neatly above lavender eyebrows.

"What the hell," Judan sobbed as she slid down a wall onto her butt.

"You can't turn on one another," the child said. "It wants to divide you. That way you will be easier to devour."

"How do you know that," Jake whispered as he encircled Christi in his arms.

"Because I know its Mother."


	7. Chapter 7

_Cradled in ghastly anecdote_ r_evulsion is criminal design._ _Still as angels suppurate I imbibe innocence's nectar. Walking amid shadows_ _l__ight flees before me._ _Perhaps it is for the best_ _a__s I am a nocturnal wanderer in damnation's kingdom._

_Children at play with metal obstructions, a black ribbon stretched for miles and blistering orb skyward as speeding rubber beats a steady rhythm attached to flimsy carriages, they scream as human and machine become one._

_Blood._

_Flesh._

_Bone._

_On hell's highway all succumb to mortality._

_Pretty beads roll from a gushing divide as flesh parts with gliding steels fury. Alone in this steaming body of water I admire the lovely crimson trail that my depression etched. Summer sun melts the daisies as my hands fold. My hair dances in the humid wind. Beads of sweat pop across my forehead. Looking to my left then to my right there is nothing but ash. Free will led to a sweeping wall of inferno as it consumed vast city blocks. People became blazing rag dolls. Buildings shattered like glass. Sky overhead burns bleak as coffee embers streak through it.  
><em> 

_Winter will fall early and last for an eternity, but should this be only in my heart I will resume my roam in darkness._

_Ample expenditure of ravenousness bathes a destroyed ethics in corrupt affairs that immerse anguish. Drama stirs a spacious cauldron. Erased truths seethe while a resident in hell.  
>Futures disclose before ancient eyes. Grounds soaked with blood split. Harvested souls writhe amongst flames. Ignite a reliance long deceased. Jump over despair's perimeter. Kissing bandits make fortunes off your confusion. Living for today might ruin your tomorrows. Many shove aside these types of thoughts. No one wants to face the brilliance of judgment. Oppressed warriors live to fight another day. Perhaps the greatest gift in life is denial. Quite often it is entertained. Repentance bares a scared child at heart. Secrets eats hearts whole. Trouble finds you no matter where you go. Under a cloud I stand alone. Vagrants flank my hollow shell. Winter has taken me hostage. Xanadu lives to breathe. You will learn one day. Zinc courses through your blood.<em>

_Smoke tendrils curl bruised lips. Behind them chewed pills taint a bitten tongue as bitterness floods taste buds. Calm sweeps in. Though life has left green eyes fire burns ever more brightly. Though it blackens and destroys she keeps it blazing for without it she is just a memory; a forgotten shell of something once beautiful and within promises arrives salvation. As eternal sleep takes hold pleasures unfold one by one. Pain no longer is a friend._

_A new breed of fear composes me. Strapped to this chair I stare beyond space. Metal clamps sink their teeth into my eyelids. Pictures stream by like blurred rats. As I twitch from the electrical current their squeaks rip through my ears like razor blades and so crimson tears fall._

_Locked in this room, death grins in a corner. Its hollow sockets contort as does my pained expression. Cooked flesh rises to my nostrils. I look down to see my skin bubble and burst. My spine is a metal rod driving into my skull and so life eludes me._

_Upon the walls I write:_

_Like a black ribbon of road  
>Reality weaves around me<br>What holds me to this world  
>At times feels as though<br>It may soon slip through my fingers  
>And I sink to weak knees<br>For in my dying hope  
>Memories splay a scene of chaos<br>Red and yellow leaves saturate the ground  
>The shadow stretches from below<br>I am a prisoner of my own fear  
>And locked within myself<br>Nothing matters  
>Except the face of October<br>In the frayed ends of my mind  
>There is nothing sweeter<br>Than gazing into innocence  
>And knowing you are loved<br>For unconditional love is a key  
>To unlocking closed doors<em>

_The hands of time  
>Move with a callow and surreal speed<br>As one faces a death  
>Reality manifests exaggerated horrors<br>Inward sprawls claws of reluctance  
>The clock counted down<br>To blazing lights and sterile blades  
>Whose army rose from soil?<br>Under a current of autumn breeze  
>A vision of death never wholly vanishes<br>It reflects with bitter decision  
>It taints dreams<br>One can only hope  
>For a better tomorrow<em>

_A fleeting nightmare lay on my pillow  
>Its threads still lace my memories<br>Pricks of glass pierce this madness_

_In a torn reality it seems possible  
>These thoughts stain my frame of mind<br>Damnation waits for those without man's god_

_Objects of desire forsake reason  
>Life plays the less fortunate for fools<br>Lessons disgraced by words fail to reach ears_

_And yet it is humankind who regulates pain  
>So my phobia slaps me in the face<br>I am but a soldier in a dying army_

_I have forgotten the agony of it all  
>Now as I stare into its eyes<br>I am again huddling in a dark place_

_Affairs of the heart wither and weep_

_Roaming in dreams my castle crumbles_

_In the mirror an ashen face stares into midnight_

_As a pregnant moon looms overhead_

_Fading stars decay in summer's wake_

_I wear a veil to cloud the glare of contempt_

_Nothing hides agony better than denial_

_Now I drift along its coast_

_Tears I shed make rosy pools_

_Though the bite of silver is slow_

_My essence streams in rapid gushes_

_Tomorrow will never come_

_And my eyes close_

_As darkness gives me one final embrace_

_Cascading magma rivers crawl over cloven feet  
>Thick charred muscle flexes and splits in two<br>Eager are the watchers for their souls call out in agony  
>Venom drips from jagged fangs inside foaming jaws<br>Head hung low,  
>eyes burning malice,<br>ill intent is not wasted  
>From its split tongue leaks thick saliva mingled with blood from its last kill<br>Across the simmering river it walks  
>Its long metallic nails click on the hardened surface<br>Its face breaks open to reveal a smile_

_Before the dawn I linger in dreams  
>Even here horrors of life invade<br>My waking thoughts swirl around possibility  
>A day's mistake issues pain<br>Windows break upon a striking fist  
>Crimson rivers twist a bitter man<br>Where might I discover peace?  
>How might I escape his grasp?<br>Always without certainty, the cosmos tremble  
>Love embraces a broken heart<br>Am I not entitled to happiness?  
>My life is mine to lead<br>I should be able to live  
>I should be able to love...<br>Without question  
>Without his anger<em>

_Permit me freedom  
>I am devoid of conviction<br>I cannot bury my head in the sand  
>I will never crawl under a rock<br>In this largely pressing theme  
>I am a skeleton with no key<br>My ache disintegrates bones  
>My torture divides veins<br>And anguish sets my blood on fire  
>The clock on the wall is not a clock at all<br>It slithers up and across the ceiling  
>The windows squint like colossal glass eyes<br>And the door turns upward to shape a wooden smile  
>While I am to wonder<br>What nightmare has my apprehension manifested?  
>Am I a fool without an abode?<em>

_Moon beams cast highlights across a slippery slope  
>While diamonds twinkle in the sky<br>And a eternal rose sways in the wind  
>Up on a hill bodies swing from the arms of trees<br>They are held by rope  
>Blue velvet saturates those who mourn<br>Hatred had seen these men to their deaths  
>The color of their skin their only crime<em>

_Reflecting fields take on every deal  
>Chocolate eyes search for meaning<br>Loves sets a damaged bird free  
>Wings of a white dove stretch wide<br>Crowned angels embrace me  
>Dance to a beat of a different drum<br>In twilight's embrace, heaven's gates yawn  
>And I cradle dear hearts in a forgiveness nest<br>Into foreign bodies eagles soar_

_God in the machine  
>a escarlata dream in Ares' grasp<br>as azulado hearts drown within fall's breath  
>and words ignite dying stars<em>

_Mortal dungeons harvest naive sensations  
>in a romantic desperation<br>as forever melts over madness  
>in lavender shades<em>

_God from the machine  
>malice feeds greed with a twisted spoon<br>under a umbrella of assumption  
>while raven tears dress maimed ivory<em>

_The appearance of truth shoots without aim  
>In pace of father time, amber treasures gleam<br>Mountain springs purify a fantasy entity  
>While freedom wanders on a rainbow<br>As sunshine daises pick ancient fiction  
>The light of day illuminates a wise will<br>And through love faith survives_

_Ashen lace cascades over my face  
>Through its lattice I appreciate cerulean sky<br>I listen to birds sing  
>Giant trees rest on all sides of me<br>Their stare switches with the wind  
>Grass caresses my exposed limbs<br>Lighter and lighter their blades sweep  
>Now I feel naught<br>The sun glistens  
>But my ability to see weakens<br>Sounds sashay into deafness  
>I am cold<br>Obscurity bathes me_

_Across a dry sea_

_To where hearts sing_

_Your face emerges like a dream_

_I have seen your dance_

_I have heard your voice_

_It is a miracle seizing my soul_

_Upon the purple mountain majesty_

_Gazing toward the blazing heavens_

_We live under the same sky_

_We walk in the same moonlight_

_And together we are gold_

_Parted dreams rest in a weary head_

_Tousled hair curtains a angelic face_

_Time holds you dear to me_

_A caress of midnight leaves destiny to hope_

_In your arms I am a star_

_I shine with a might beautiful and long_

_A unit we share in bliss and harmony_

_Forever more we become a diamond_

_In the absence of time truth drowns in cherry waves  
>Smashing against rocks both wide and small it no longer resembles fact<br>Pressed into tiny shapes humanity dries up like a prune  
>On stiff legs soldiers march onward<br>Their damp cobblestone path lay gutted  
>In Earth's gaping wound festers darkness<br>As it climbs out slow and stealthy summer's pain flares  
>Bliss is a magic often lost in the answer to hate<br>Somewhere love will swallow the wicked  
>Though life wears many shades those within it often blur them<br>To the point of obscurity effort is wasted  
>For one sweet nectar sours<br>Jealousy raped a good heart of hope  
>And still these words will fail to stir realization<br>Perhaps compassion's time will forever remain absent_

_Stained riddles isolate a blind man's plagues  
>He withers in damnation<br>From denial's seed grows a awful root  
>Deception chimes the midnight hour<br>In wake of tyranny absurdity marches on  
>Enslaved by greed, human error soils dreams<br>Sacred subjects forsake their souls  
>As madness leads a mindless flock<em>

_Empty shells at my feet  
>A spent shotgun in my hands<br>On the scruffy carpet a crumbled body lies;  
>a yawning hole in its chest<br>while eyes stare eternity in the face_

_Brass tongues thrash at my heels  
>Coiling around my ankles, snakes hiss my name<br>Dark shadows twist my awareness_

_Your ardor was cynical  
>Frosty fingers fortify a dishonorable affection<br>Like a spider you interweave a network  
>In a corner you suspend and scrutinize<br>Frames of lunacy tease a bruised psyche  
>Ecstasy withers under grave burden<br>Days broaden into years_

_Beneath the facade your lesion will never mend  
>Some scars rankle for all to see<br>Your vessel has ultimately glided south  
>Now you are isolated<br>Sleep in the foundation you finished_

_Knotted thorns envelop my compassion  
>When gloom fades distress remains<br>My radiance burns weak  
>Though a core clouds conclusion antagonism snarls<br>Tolerance is not your asset_

_Thrown away I sit unaccompanied  
>Emaciated gems lay forgotten<em>

_June cascades rubbish  
>I scramble through sorrow's barbs<br>Love is an uncomplicated instrument to influence  
>Rummaged debris bares trickery<em>


	8. Chapter 8

_Listen to the sound of infinite misery. Can you feel the tone of misery? There they await death huddled in darkness. Mankind fears what it does not understand after all. Tissue sporting millions of DNA has a vast imagination. This they can never understand or begin to understand and why should they even try when all they do is lie, cheat and kill?_

_These cold stone walls cannot keep out the impossible. It will come for them. One by one the whole race of insignificant vermin will succumb to the deepest hell. Still even this reality holds little hope for danger. _

_Christi, Christi…Christ?_

_She infiltrates strong minds with her vulnerability. How is one supposed to operate under such finite days? It doesn't matter. Mortal desire eventually plunges into mortal horror. Nothing more can be implicated. It has already reaped what a devil has sown. _

_So now… Ceaselessly the feline lounged upon the floor devoid of considering, devoid of discernment that time was a silhouette forlorn. There was an emblem nestled against her breast as moonlight trickled over her. Bordered lunacy clambered into her domain, hung from dilapidated hangings the tint of decaying grapes. Predetermined in her ample eyes, distance carried opposition. Painted smiles weaved ghostly faces. They left myriad sentiments none at all entertaining as they dangled from wire threads trapped in wood frames._

_In bittersweet winds danced a black shadow. Flaring cherry pools ignited indescribable anonymities while masculine contours subdued illogical subjugations and perpetually shaded his unchanging face with ivory stone. Despite the fact that domination was a classic tool in his hands his mouth rolled sarcasm in cryptic flavors. For him there was no good or evil, only power and while under scrutiny's stare inhuman actions performed fluent insanity. They birthed a magic man, granted him abilities to come forth to heal the shattered heart. Such had been a haunted reminiscence floating in the back of her mind, one she had hoped to erase._

_As her head tilted upward corroded darkness weaved corridors. They twisted, spun into indistinct realms beyond her grasp and yet she reached out to try to catch a piece of its eternity. Through walls of fog dwelled ruin. Her heart entwined it._

_Athwart cracked marble, copious ashes lie. In ruins she remained unaided. Fixed eyes stared incessantly. An acrimonious winter's passing exhibited pits of corrosion. Attestation deceived unfathomable hollows. Immense marvels and aspiration permitted gray endeavors. Nothing in subdued commitment was solved. Destiny chanted a melancholic harmony. End came far too soon. To all vast and minor it happened. Figures stationed in earth and mortars hastened despair. She wore it as her own skin. Her eternal cry was a desperate call._

_Into an endless cavity she spun senseless._

_Ashes fell. She was incarcerated in the wake of a wall labyrinth. Still eyes gaped. Stone hearts relinquished nothing. And together they fell. In the bleakest of days ahead, shadows paid with fever. Disease claimed one after another._

_She stared into darkness from her kitchen window. She stared while always waiting. As orange street lamps flickered, autumn's kiss rushed in from a crack in the pane. The bitter chill had been here for a week. The bass from a car's stereo palpitated softly in the distance, becoming more and more pronounced. Green and yellow leaves swayed as their tree stood tall and true. Peace harvested night's lullaby._

_Haunted eyes hovered as the blade's glint caught them. Their deep shades of chocolate and emerald admired its steel teeth. Laid against snow white flesh, its silver mocked her. Raven wings curtained her face as she bowed her head. Now it was time to say a little prayer if only her faith had not been shaken. Now it was time to remember fragments of her life. Nothing seeped through the anguish. Lips so pale and pink trembled. The shadows of the world were upon her if not in gray in red. Only she could save her from herself. _


End file.
